Reviews

Tetris 99 – Season 1 Big Block DLC Review

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Tetris 99 has been one of 2019’s biggest surprises. Putting a battle royale spin on a timeless classic has grown to become Nintendo Switch Online’s killer app. Even with only one mode during the first few months of the game’s existence, I’ve poured dozens of hours into the game and had no plans of stopping.

But for players looking to shake things up, the Big Block DLC is available for purchase. For $9.99 USD, you get access to two new offline modes. Are these new additions enough to pry you away from the online multiplayer action?

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Bob Ross: The Art of Chill Review

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Long after his passing, the legacy of Bob Ross continues to shine. Episodes of his show The Joy of Painting are still popular online decades after its television run ended in the 90s. Though I don’t think anyone imagined that his work would have an impact on the board game world, there are two in his name as of writing.

Bob Ross: The Art of Chill does not involve any actual drawing or painting. You’ll want to play Bob Ross: Happy Little Accidents for that type of experience. Instead, it is a strategy game that loosely simulates the experience of painting alongside the legend himself. Can you keep up with Bob Ross and achieve maximum chill? Or at the very least, make the most of your happy little accidents?

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A Look Back at Wrestlemania 2000 on the Nintendo 64

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During AKI’s legendary run of producing some of the best wrestling games ever made, they made two for the WWF: WWF Wrestlemania 2000 and WWF No Mercy. The latter is widely recognized by many – including me – as the single greatest wrestling video game of all-time. The former is…the precursor everyone forgot about in the shadow of the greatest wrestling video game of all time. Quite frankly, I have largely blocked out the existence of Wrestlemania 2000 from my mind until the opportunity arose to stream it on the eve of Wrestlemania 35. Playing the game again served as a great reminder for what makes it enjoyable to this day, but also why it faded into obscurity.

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20XX Review

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20XX by Batterystaple Games isn’t afraid to show where its inspiration came from. From the design of its main characters, to the feel of the game’s controls, right down to aping one of the most iconic intro screens in gaming, this is an unapologetic riff on the Mega Man franchise, particularly the X series of games. However, some fundamental changes to the core formula flip the standard bot-battling formula on its head.

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Mayflash Magic-NS Wireless Controller Adapter Review

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The Nintendo Joy-Con controllers work great in portable mode, and serve as a handy way for 2-player action when no other controller options are available. However, as a standalone controller in the Joy-Con grip, it falls well short of the standard. Buying a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller isn’t cheap, and you still might prefer the feel of the PlayStation or Xbox controllers. For me, I want to play fighting games with a fightstick, but I’m not ready to pay hundreds of dollars for one just to use on the Switch.

Enter the Mayflash Magic-NS. This USB adapter is designed to let Switch players use a number of different controllers from outside of the Nintendo Switch ecosystem. I recently picked one up to address my fightstick needs, but I also tried it with my DualShock 4 and Xbox One Controller.

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Anthem Impressions

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Life at BioWare has been pretty rocky. Despite being a great game overall, the fallout over Mass Effect 3‘s disappointing endings was one of the biggest news stories of that year. Then, Mass Effect: Andromeda was released a few years later to much criticism. Falling well short of expectations in terms of critical acclaim and sales, I’m concerned that we might never see Mass Effect again after that debacle.

This time, the studio left Shepard behind to tell an all-new adventure in Anthem. It’s also a very different type of game. Leaving much of the choose-your-own-adventure elements behind, this game is a looter shooter in the style of Destiny.

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Yoshi’s Crafted World Review

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After creating the masterpiece that is Yoshi’s Island, Nintendo decided to take the Yoshi platforming games in a different direction. Starting with Yoshi’s Story and continuing with Yoshi’s Wooly World, the difficulty of these titles were seemingly toned down to reach a younger or more casual audience. While I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally wrong with that approach, Nintendo’s execution of the concept has left a lot of room for improvement.

Yoshi’s Story is a snooze for level designs that are completely devoid of anything interesting to do. Yoshi’s Wooly World makes some improvements thanks to its charming art style and a solid back half, but the first half of that game also equates accessibility with pedestrian level design. Did Nintendo finally bridge the gap between fun and accessibility with Yoshi’s Crafted World?

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Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid Review

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For a franchise rooted in hand-to-hand combat, you’d think that the Power Rangers would have a larger foothold in the fighting game space. Save for a bad SNES fighter with the most legendarily overpowered fighting game character of all-time and a mobile game that I think is doing well, they generally steer clear of the genre that probably makes the most sense.

Finally, the world is getting a Power Rangers fighter in the modern era. Published by nWay Games and developed with the help of professional fighting game players Clockw0rk, ShadyK, and Justin Wong, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid aims to provide the thrills of a Marvel vs. Capcom style fighter at a fraction of the price.

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The Importance of Finding Game Reviews and Coverage from Sources You Trust and Can Connect With

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At a certain point in my life, I became incredibly picky about where I get my fighting game coverage and reviews from.

Don’t get me wrong. I love sites like IGN, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and Kotaku for their ability to provide news and reviews first. I will go to them to get a sense of what a fighting game’s broader feature set is. I love independent bloggers for being able to provide their personal insight and touch in ways that more generalist sites cannot. Will turn to them for stories about how they had fun with the game or logs of their personal progress in a fighter.

But when it comes to looking for information that will help me inform my purchase on a fighting game, these outlets are not adequate with answering the hyper-specific questions I have about a game. My most recent quests for information pertaining to Samurai Shodown and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid served as a reminder of that.

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Anthem Live Stream: Tyrant Mine

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Suit up! This time, we jet into the first Stronghold in Anthem, the Tyrant Mine!

Make sure to never miss a stream by following my channel and turning your notifications on! You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram for stream updates and other cool stuff posted daily!

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